Asia/Pacific

Japanese utilities and business groups are pressing U.S. regulators to approve natural gas exports at a time when Japan’s idled nuclear production has boosted its need for other energy sources.

New letters to the Energy Department (DOE) urge approval of an array of pending applications to export liquefied natural gas to nations that do not have free-trade deals with the U.S. – including Japan.

“We, as Japanese utilities, are in significant need of secure sources of energy supply,” states a Jan. 24 letter to DOE from Chubu Electric Power Co. and Osaka Gas Co. “Among new supply sources, we have increasing interest in U.S. LNG exports as economic and stable sources of supply with high liquidity and transparency.”

Their letter urges “expedited” action on the LNG export applications.

North Korea is still capable of running a series of nuclear weapons tests, despite reports from U.S. intelligence officials that there are no near-term indications the country is planning to conduct such drills, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday. 

Press secretary Jay Carney warned that a nuclear test would be a "significant violation" of U.N. resolutions.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey met with his NATO military counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday to flesh out the details of the administration's plan to accelerate the security handover in Afghanistan to local forces by spring. 

President Obama's deputy special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday made the case for peace talks with the Taliban.

Speaking to the public via a State Department Q&A on Twitter, James Warlick said the administration supports reconciliation with the insurgents it has been battling for the past 12 years. President Obama for the first time endorsed a proposal to open a “Taliban office” in Qatar when he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week.

“At the Summit, the Leaders called on Taliban to join political process and take necessary steps to open office,” Warlick said on Twitter. “We agree that reconciliation is surest path to peace and ending violence in Afghanistan. As SecClinton has said, 'You don’t make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.' "

“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission -- training, advising and assisting Afghan forces," Obama said.

Fresh off of his visit to North Korea, former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said he is "worried" about a potential conflict in the region.

Richardson said the U.S. should increase engagement and dialogue with the isolated country before it's too late. 

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets today with President Obama at the White House at a time when the two leaders' ambitions for the future of the country are widely apart. Karzai is expected to urge Obama to retain a sizable U.S. presence in Afghanistan after 2014, while the U.S. leader has pared down his hopes of what can be achieved there.

The talks come as the Obama administration has significantly increased its drone strikes against militants in Pakistan in the early days of 2013, evidence that it plans a significant drawdown.

Group hug: U.S. and Russian diplomats meet today in Geneva with the U.N.'s special envoy to Syria to negotiate the next steps in the crisis. The talks with Bashar Assad ally Russia come as Syrian rebels claim to have seized a key air base.

Feisty French: France's Francois Hollande said today he's ready to stop the advance of al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali.

Trade talk: The National Foreign Trade Council unveils its international trade and tax outlook for 2013 this afternoon. Check back on Global Affairs this afternoon for coverage.

The White House will press Afghan leaders to fast-track planned peace talks with the Taliban during a series of key meetings in Washington this week, with the hopes of having an peace process up and running by the time U.S. combat troops pull out in 2014. 

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Some Obama administration insiders are pushing for a minimal residual force in Afghanistan after 2014 as President Hamid Karzai prepares to meet with the president and members of his Cabinet this week. The leaks come as Obama's three picks to lead his national-security team — John Brennan at the CIA, Chuck Hagel at Defense and John Kerry at State — are widely seen as evidence of the president's preference for a less interventionist U.S. foreign policy in his second term.

Karzai is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, before meeting with President Obama at the White House on Friday. His finance minister, Omar Zakhilwal, meets with Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin today. Zakhilwal is also scheduled to meet today with Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides and Melanie Verveer, the State Department's ambassador-at-large for global women's issues.

Following Karzai's visit, Panetta departs Monday for a weeklong trip to Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, where he will meet with his defense counterparts and discuss the mission in Afghanistan. 

Be very afraid: Not sure what to be most worried about in 2013? The helpful folks at the Council on Foreign Relations' Center for Preventive Action give you the lowdown at a briefing this afternoon.